South Alabama, Troy will play bigger roles in Sun Belt in 2013 (beat column)

MOBILE, Alabama -- The Sun Belt Conference will be different next year. Texas State and Georgia State join the fold, Florida International and North Texas will be gone, followed by Middle Tennessee State and Florida Atlantic.

South Alabama head coach Joey Jones and his Jags gained respect around the Sun Belt Conference in their first season of league play even though they didn't have a lot of wins. (Correspondent, Chip English)

The league is expected to announce soon that at least two schools will join the conference, though that is not a given. In the ever-changing world of conference realignment, nothing is a given.

Regardless, the Sun Belt will be different a year from now, especially in football. Gus Malzahn is gone, Bobby Petrino is in. And welcome Dennis Franchione to the league if you will. There will be new head coaches at Arkansas State and Florida International. Quarterback Ryan Aplin, a two-time Sun Belt Player of the Year, leaves ASU, but Kolton Browning, perhaps the league's most exciting player, will be back at Monroe.

Offensive football will still rule the league, but defense will likely decide which team rules the conference.

It should be competitive (again). It should produce some twists and turns (again). It should be interesting (at the very least).

And Troy and South Alabama should play bigger roles a year from now.

The 2012 football season didn't unfold as either of the Sun Belt's Alabama connections expected. At 2-11 overall and 1-7 in league games, South Alabama experienced its first-ever losing season in its first-ever full schedule of Sun Belt games. Even the Jags couldn't win the league crown, they did expect to fare better than they did. There wasn't an expectation of eight or nine wins, but there was a belief they would win more than two games overall and more than one game against league opponents.

In truth, both should have been true. The Jags should have won more than two total games and they should have opened made their initial tour around the conference with more than a single victory. Big plays by opponents, turnovers, badly timed penalties and inconsistency on offense kept South Alabama from accomplishing those two goals.

Look for Troy head coach Larry Blakeney and the Trojans to bounce back next season from the disappointment of the 2011 and 2012 seasons. (The Associated Press)

The first true season of Football Bowl Subdivision competition (12 of the Jags' 13 games were against FBS teams, seven of them on the road) was a learning experience and a gauge of where the program is after 40 games. Now it must take that information and experience and use it to get better.

It will. South Alabama is going to be a team that makes an impact in the Sun Belt sooner rather than later. Joey Jones and his staff has already established a presence and, just as important, respect.

But USA still has a lot of growing up to do, it still has some holes to fill in its lineup and it must take what has been learned and transfer it to game day in clutch situations against FBS opponents. It won't be easy, but by redshirting all but one member of its 2012 recruiting class and with several fifth-year players set to fill spots on the roster and starting lineup, the Jags will be better suited for those challenges, it's depth chart gaining more depth.

At Troy, a school that won outright or shared five consecutive Sun Belt crowns before the disappointment of the 2011 season (3-9) and this past year's 5-7 finish, will be back. The Arkansas States, Middle Tennessees, Louisiana-Monroes and Louisiana-Lafayettes should keep that in mind.

The Trojans have both quarterbacks -- Corey Robinson and Deon Anthony -- returning, along with other talented players to an offense that was among the best in the league. Its defense must show obvious improvement and the belief is those troubles will be addressed in a big and serious fashion during spring practice and the days leading up to the start of spring work.

Troy knows how to win and that lesson hasn't been forgotten. What the Trojans must learn is how to forget. They must forget the past two years and move forward. They must forget the games that didn't go their way the past two seasons and they must forget the whispers of fans wondering aloud why their team wasn't winning.

At the same time, they must not forget the title streak or how it was achieved nor the way they won close games and why. They must remember the pain that accompanied those close and not-so-close losses and they must not forget that their success is not built on their past reputation but on their present preparation.

Troy's is not a program that will fade away and Larry Blakeney is not a coach who will allow that to happen. His response is going to be to work his team harder, look for ways to correct the mistakes that were made and fill the gaps that need to be filled. His players should prepare themselves for that push and to be the players who eliminate the mistakes and fill the gaps that need to be filled.

Next year will be a different season in the Sun Belt, and South Alabama and Troy will play a role in how that season unfolds.